In the context of cue sports, a rack is a frame (usually wood, plastic or metal) used to organize balls at the beginning of a game. A standard rack is a simple triangular structure that holds the balls in a triangular configuration.
It may be desirable for the balls in the rack to be packed such that that the balls are in abutment when the rack is removed. However, as the balls are pushed against each other they may also be pushed against at least one of the inside surfaces of the rack. Accordingly, some of the balls may be in abutment with the rack. Consequently the rack may not be removed easily without causing movement in the balls and adversely affecting the closely packed arrangement of the balls. Furthermore, racks may require the user to make a vertical lift when removing the rack from the balls. One may be forced to bend directly over the racked balls in order to lift the rack without disturbing the formation. This can be difficult and may result in an unstable setting of the balls. The removal of the rack from the tightly packed balls depends upon the hand/eye coordination of the person moving the rack.
Furthermore, the top ball in the rack can be visually aligned with a locator mark, or head spot, on the pool table. This may be to allow the balls to be correctly positioned on the table. However, this system can provide inconsistent results because the position of the rack is only roughly approximated based upon the location of the top ball, and the top ball covers the head spot. Additionally, there is no precise control over the rotational orientation of the rack relative to an end rail of the table since this system relies on the user to orient the row of balls proximal to the end rail in a parallel orientation relative to the end rail.
Accordingly, an improved method of racking and positioning billiard balls on a table and removing the rack from the newly arranged balls is needed.